RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
The University of Hawaii Rainbow Marching Band practiced Friday at Cooke Field for the upcoming Sugar Bowl trip. Janice Kunishige conducted the musicians as they rehearsed.

"C'mon guys! Our next rehearsal's going to be in New Orleans, so we have to get into performance mode."

From his elevated perch, "Mr. P," the University of Hawaii Rainbow Marching Band director Brandt Payne, addressed his musicians Friday during a late-afternoon rehearsal at Cooke Field.

Finals were done that day and an aftermath of post-test weariness was evident. Still, the band gamely ran through their 5-minute pre-game performance, one that will be televised nationwide on New Year's Day from the New Orleans Superdome before the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

With the help of assistant band director Gwen Nakamura and a trio of student conductors, the 270-piece band went through their paces and formations in a brief program that includes the school's alma mater, the "Hawaiian War Chant" and a bit of "Hawaii Five-O."

The show features the band in full-dress uniforms -- plus featured baton twirler Shannon Dresser, the 20-member cheerleading squad and 25 Rainbow Dancers.

After the rehearsal, Payne read a letter from the director of Fresno State's marching band, congratulating them on representing all bands of the Western Athletic Conference at this all-important bowl game. It was a gesture that cheered the students.

"Before we came on to the field today," Nakamura said, "we had a meeting about the trip, and I could tell by the atmosphere that it was finally sinking in to the students that we're going over there to do this. And I'm sure that once we see Georgia's band, we'll be pumped up to do just as well as them."

Nakamura has been with the program long enough -- starting as a graduate assistant back in 1984 -- that she remembers the last time UH traveled to a bowl game, namely the '92 Holiday Bowl in San Diego, when the team defeated the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois.

"But, like for us, this is reallythe big time," she said. "This is unreal.

"This will bring us a lot of exposure on a national level," said Payne, "and since this is a BCS bowl game, we'll be part of its grand atmosphere."

Iowa-born Payne is in his third year as band director, and he confidently states that "the caliber of this group is as strong as any top marching band in the country, so it's great that we can take them to New Orleans and showcase what talent is available out here in Hawaii."

"I love UH. It's in my blood," Nakamura added.

FOR CHEERLEADING adviser and coach Michael Baker, a former cheerleader for the University of Washington, this past football season has been deja vu.

Before coming to the Manoa campus for graduate studies, he remembers the Huskies' own undefeated season in '91 that culminated in a Rose Bowl victory. "It was then that I knew that the cheerleaders can help make a difference. And when Hawaii beat Washington in the last game of the season to remain undefeated, it came full circle for me. I thought going to a bowl game was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it's nothing like this."

Baker's goal is to replicate "that home-field feel to the game, and take advantage of the Hawaii fans going there by unifying them as one."

He hopes that with pep rallies and pre-game events happening around the Big Easy, Baker and the squad will educate the fans with coordinated cheers.

"We've got a great group of kids," Baker said, "and it's great to represent a team that strives for perfection."

To help bring the raucous Aloha Stadium crowd together, Baker said he and the squad learned from the previous season. "When we finished with the Purdue and Oregon State games, more fans came out of the woodwork for those, so in terms of cheering, it was not organized. Back then, the fans just wanted to make noise. But with the last two games of this past season, the crowd was unbelievable. It all came together. During stretches of the Boise State and Washington games when the team was on defense, you could just see the energy in the stadium.

"These kids are dedicated and focused," he said. "We come up with different strategies and, come to think about it, we don't want to miss our assignments as much as the players. When our defense is in a third-down situation, that's our cue to hold up the 'noise' signs.

Between that and the coordinated "Go Warriors!" crowd cheer (the successor of "Rain! Bows!"), the cheerleaders hope to reinforce that pattern during the Sugar Bowl.

"If we can make a difference on one stop against Georgia, that's huge. That one play could impact the whole game," Baker said.